Petr Davydtchenko presents his third solo show at the gallery with two works.
Romantic of Terror
Fire, Electric Cables, Battery parts, 412cm x 232cm, 2017
8 make-shift canvases total one large painting that repeats the phrase Romantic of Terror. Created through the technique and material of burning rubber, the physical act of protest references the revolutionary notion whereby terror becomes the desired tool used to maintain a new socio-political reality. The electricity is intentionally cut. Technological, political and personal anxieties drive the work through flames. The painting is accompanied by a mixed-media archival piece that confronts the viewer with evidence of events that occurred in the process of making "Romantic of Terror." It unveils the raw and unpleasant matter that embodies the realness of protesting as opposed to its various simulacrum. The skin of the artist, which was removed from his hands after a painful accident, stands for the actual flesh that is neglected in the neoliberal outlook on resistance as weekend fair activity (hello "Pepsi" ads and impotent acts of opposition that tend to only further enforce the structures they criticize). It is presented as a conscious choice to be unpleasant rather than spare an audience from the actuality of things. The work consists of photographs, video, used bandages, human skin and an accompanying text that embodies the artist's struggle to accept practical guidance through sentiments of impossibility and the identification of the hypocrisy bound to systemic criticism.
Ascension
6 source video Installation, 2016
"Ascension" is a comprehensive 6-screen installation that amplifies focus on the ephemeral moment of desired escape from the depths of a darkening socio-political totality. It was presented at V Moscow Biennale for Young Art in 2016 and received overall critical acclaim as one of the best works in the exhibition. The main character's past, future and present intentions are unclear as time after time he pulls himself out of the boiling sewage in a ubiquitous ascension.
